GLOBAL MARKETS: The USD extended recent losses in European trade on Thursday following comments by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at a press conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos that he welcomed the USD’s weakness as it is “good” for trade balance. All eyes today are on the ECB’s monetary policy meeting that will be followed by a press conference starting at14:30 CET. Even though the account of the December ECB meeting suggested a possible communication change “early” this year, any significant changes on the language and the forward guidance will likely wait at least until March when the ECB will publish its updated staff projections..

GREECE: According to press, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras is scheduled to meet IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde today on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos to discuss debt sustainability and potential debt relief. The Greek PM is also scheduled to meet the EU Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici with whom he will reportedly discuss the next steps ahead in order for Greece to exit the economic adjustment programme and strengthen its economy. The European Banking Authority (EBA) will formally launch the EU-wide stress test on 31 January 2018 at 5pm UK time. Along with the announcement, the EBA will publish the common macroeconomic scenarios for this exercise. Replying to the Greek MEP Nikolaos Chountis, ECB President Mario Draghi stated that as regards electronic auctions, further effort is needed to ensure full geographical coverage across Greece.

SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE

CESEE MARKETS: Emerging market assets traded mixed earlier on Thursday as caution prevailed ahead of the ECB meeting later on the day.